This invention relates to hairpieces, and more particularly to a method for custom making a hairpiece that is constructed from the user's own hair.
Concern over personal appearance is a virtually universal trait of humans, with the style and appearance of hair being an especially important aspect of this concern. Artificial hair pieces have, accordingly, become extremely popular not only to aid those interested in the ability to change the appearance of their hair, but also to serve as a substitute for hair which may have been lost due to baldness.
Often the hair piece includes a comb component that engages with the user's natural hair and holds the hair piece in place. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,991 to Nocera et al. discloses a hair piece that has a fabric body which is attached to a comb. However, the comb is usually not very effective in firmly holding the hair piece in place because the comb does not generate any holding or engaging force on its own and instead relies on the presence of a significant amount of natural hair to engage with the bristles of the comb for maintaining the hair piece in its proper place. Unfortunately, if there is an insufficient amount of natural hair, which is often the reason for wearing the hair piece, it is impossible to hold the hair piece in place. Thus, there is a need for a hair piece that provides the user an alternative way of affixing the hair piece to his scalp.
To overcome the problems of comb-attached hair pieces, some have suggested hair pieces that use an adhesive paste to affix to the user's scalp. While these hairpieces advantageously attach firmly to the user's head and do not come loose, they generally come pre-assembled from the manufacturers. Often, these hair pieces are made of synthetic hair, which are easy to spot and look funny. Alternately, the hair pieces may be constructed from hair extracted from other human beings, but such hair pieces are generally very expensive.
The use of the existing hairpieces is further disadvantageous in that the user is required to further adjust his existing hairline to blend and match the hair texture and color of the hair piece with his existing hairline. Such adjustment of the existing hairline may even include coloring or trimming one's existing hair.
While these units mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.